As you've probably heard, we're moving to Portland March 1st! Everyone get excited, let's hang out, etc. First, I have a few important questions.

- How do you pronounce Willamette?

- What is the spider situation like? Size, color, shape, number of fangs, frequency in which you see them in your living space? Are there snakes?

- How hard is it to find an apartment? In San Francisco it's a battle to the death to snag a $1300/mo studio apartment in a crepe neighborhood. Should I bring my helmet and knee pads and be prepared to punch some old ladies? It seems like we should stay clear of those giant property management companies like Fox and American Property Management, yes? Also, do you know of any two bedrooms available for rent? Dishwasher is the only deal breaker.

- What are your thoughts on the air tram?

- Best Indian food? This is probably my biggest concern with moving. If there isn't good Indian I might die. I like saag aloo and mixed veggie curries and uthapam. It better be spicy. Bonus points for roti or vegan naan.

-I've lived in this area my whole life, and personally have not seen a spider bigger than a brown recluse (even then it was hidden in hay). I see little ones occasionally, but perhaps my cats just eat them before I see them. I am scared to death of snakes, but have never, ever seen them in Portland (in Battle Ground, they were more prevalent, but good ol' BG is out in the sticks). Raccoons, though. Those are some crazy animals. They run in packs.

-Depends on the area! If you're looking for closer in, it's a bit cutthroat (and spendier). I just moved in an apartment in an awesome area and was one of 8 people to call within a half hour of the posting. As for property management companies, I liked Princeton ok, I have not had to deal with any others. Check out Craigslist listings to get a feel!

-Scary.

-I'm not the best to answer, but funks knows of some great carts!

-I hate the whole "Californians, go back to your own state!" Especially when nobody here is a native. I'm pretty sure nobody will be mean to your face, though! We're too passive for that. I personally welcome you.

You pronounce Willamette like a 50's band, Will am (the) Ette (s) (I realize I'm reaching here, but it's the best way I can think of).

Spiders are horrible everywhere. They're the worst thing to independently evolve from primordial goo ever. But the ones here aren't that bad. Brown recluse and Hobo spiders are spoken about, but I've never seen either. I think it's somewhat paranoia. A coworker of mine saw a black widow (confirmed, they killed and ID'd it). But that was in a crawl space. Forewarned is four armed (like Goro):

You're boned on Indian food. There's a cart downtown, but I've yet to have decent Indian food here.

We Native Oregonian's are natural xenophobes (yes, I'm from here, but I'm sure I was born in a Volvo (my Mom came from California by way of Oklahoma in the early 70s). Anyway, it doesn't matter where you say you're from: we don't want you. That said, we're all asshats (my above statement is tongue-in-cheek, btw) and totally in the minority. Besides, most people value honesty over where you're from. Be nice and lovely to folks and it won't matter. Oh, and it won't matter what you do: people will complain about your driving and/or bicycle riding.

Oh shiitake. I forgot about hobo spiders. My friend was bit by one in Olympia and had a welt on his arm so large he wound up with stretch marks and a forked up tattoo. *shudder* On the other hand, I LOVE raccoons, they are my second favorite animal. I hope they come visit me.

I don't know if I can handle there not being good Indian food, I crave it 24/7. I guess I'll just have to get some pointers from the chef at our favorite place here and start making it at home more often. At least I'll get some use out of that giant bag of chapati in the kitchen.

I'm hoping we see start seeing some good places available for our time frame this week. So far everything we've liked has been available too soon.

I've never seen a poisonous spider here. maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.

I have heard people complain about the Indian food here, and I feel like I haven't really eaten Indian food anywhere that is known for its Indian food so I accept that I probably just don't know what I'm missing, but I like Dwaraka...

_________________"No one with hair so soft and glossy could ever be bad at anything." - Tofulish

Welcome! And don't worry about spiders - chances of seeing a poisonous one are remote, but how many harmless ones you see depends on where you live. I'm guessing you'll be in a central city type environment, where they'll be rare. In my house is another situation!

The only snake we have here is the harmless little garter snake (except in a few pockets you'll probably never visit.) You won't see any in completely urban areas, but the great thing about Portland is all the natural areas we have. There they abound.

I just attended a cooking demo from an Indian chef - Sophie isn't vegan, but some of her classes are: http://masalanw.com/. And the recipe she made for us (Adai w/ coconut and mint chutney) was devine and can be found here: http://nwveg.org/news?entry=298

_________________Formerly Kaleicious. I still love kale, but no more than lots of other garden greens too! Orach is currently my favorite.

Welcome! I'm kinda new here myself (both to PDX and de-lurking on the PPK). I came from the midwest, which had suprisingly great Indian food and I've yet to find anything good here...but Dwaraka is on my list now!There seem to be lots of houses for rent here....the house next door to me is for rent for $1700, it's a 2 bedroom in N. Portland very close to New Seasons and Alberta St, but I have no idea about the Dishwasher...but that gives you the idea of the rent cost for a mid-sized house in the N/NE area.Welcome! And hi to the rest of the Portlanders!Brook

Haha, Alex and I have been joking about getting some tips from our favorite place here and opening and vegan Indian cart in Portland!

Oh, that reminds me! I have heard this newish cart is good: http://roshambopdx.com/about/I haven't been, because really, I can't remember the last time I went out of my way to visit a cart that wasn't one or two I frequent downtown for lunch... I have no desire to wait in the rain for food!

Do you guys know what neighborhood you're moving into yet? Also, the CA thing, really, you may get a couple of bad jokes or eyerolls every now and then, but if it wasn't about that, it would be about something else. Who cares!

I am not trying to freak you out, but I have never seen so many spiders in my life, than in Portland. Granted they are sorta small and docile, but they are everywhere. Especially during certain times of the year, when I walk Vee I can literally see 20 on one walk and they do sorta like to hang out in the house. Just sayin' and we came from New Orleans where there are bugs. I like spiders, tho.

Indian! Yea, PDX is sorta hurting a bit for it. We like India Grill in SE on Belmont around 38th--I think it's Punjabi but not positive--tho it's def N. Indian. Jess mentioned Dwaraka and they have ooties there, but I haven't been in a while--they serve a mix of typical N and S stuff.

Welcome!xokittee

_________________Cake Maker to the Starspakupaku"Stupid society. I'm gonna go put on bikini kill."~Susie Tofu Monster"Kittee is wise. Listen to Kittee."~Aruna--> the PPKr currently known as mumbaikar

What we have most of is Pumpkin Spiders. They are fat and orange and they are almost always outside. They do make a shitload of webs everywhere, though, and you'll have to be careful in the spring and summer not to walk through them in your backyard or near your walkways or front door.

_________________"I'm just going to shake genitals instead of hands from now on. Cut out the middle man." - joyfulgirl

I'm from Texas, I used to wake up and find scorpions on my floor/walls and be like "oh no big", but after living in a mostly spider-free area for 5 years I can't do it.

Here we do have these really large, scaly spiders that spin large webs (I saw an entire garage door covered by a giant web, true story), but they really only hang out in shrubbery and areas with lots of trees, which there isn't much of. They still give me nightmares.

ANYWAY, Indian food! Sounds like we have a lot of places to try and we're keeping a mental list of suggestions, so that will keep us busy until we find somewhere we really like!

I lived in TX and Oakland and been in PDX on and off for 7 years, and must say that there are indeed a lot of spiders here. Those orange guys are literally everywhere. When we moved into our current house we spent hours relocating spiders from doorways and nooks and crannies to the trees outside. I thought the bug situation in TX was worse overall. I remember giant cockroaches, big asparagus ants and lots of mosquitoes. Welcome to spider town!